Tambapanni

The name given to that district in
Ceylon where Vijaya landed after leaving Suppáraka (Mhv.vi.47; Dpv.ix.30). It is
said to have been so called because when Vijaya's followers, having disembarked
from the ship, sat down there, wearied, resting their hands on the ground, they
found them coloured by the red dust that lay there. Later on Vijaya founded his
capital in Tambapanni, and following that the whole island came to bear the same
name (Dpv.vii.38-42). Tambapanni was originally inhabited by Yakkhas, having
their capital at Sirísavatthu (q.v.). The Valáhassa Játaka (J.ii.129) speaks of
a Tambapannisara. According to the Samyutta Commentary (ii.83; but in VbhA.p.444
it is spoken of as tiyojana satika), the Tambapannidípa was one hundred leagues
in extent.

Anurádhapura formed the Majjhimadesa in
Tambapannidípa, the rest being the Paccantimadesa (AA.i.265).

In Asoka's Rock Edicts II. and XIII.
Tambapanni is mentioned as one of the Pratyanta desas, together with Coda,
Pándya, Satiyaputta, Keralaputta, and the realm of Antiyaka Yonarája, as an
unconquered territory with whose people Asoka was on friendly terms. Vincent
Smith (Asoka (3rd edn.), p.163; but see Ind. Antiq., 1919, p.195f ) identifies
this, not with Ceylon, but with the river Támraparni in Tinnevelly.